Second minister quits over Justin Trudeau and bribery case

Roderick Gutierrez

If convicted criminally, the Montreal-based company would be banned from receiving any federal government business for a decade. She told parliamentary hearings last week that she no longer had confidence to sit around the cabinet table.

In her resignation letter to Trudeau, Philpott pointed out that a cabinet minister must be able "speak in support of the government and its policies" at all times. She is the first Indigenous person to hold the post, which combines duties as a politician (heading the Department of Justice) and a legal official (overseeing prosecutions). SNC-Lavalin had lobbied for such a provision in Canadian law.

And to which the reply from the woman in the crowd came without missing a beat: "Then don't build pipelines because we can't build them". During the next three months, in response to requests from prosecutors, SNC-Lavalin provides detailed information it sees as making a strong case for an agreement.

He has denied political meddling to shield engineering firm SNC-Lavalin from a bribery trial.

But we will now never know whether Lametti was brought in to do what Wilson-Raybould refused to do. Maybe Butts will offer evidence undermining Wilson-Raybould.

September 18 - SNC-Lavalin representatives meet with Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick, Canada's most senior public servant, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau to discuss issues including "justice and law enforcement".

Remediation agreements are lawful tools in dealing with corporate corruption. That challenge is ongoing. If the new attorney general agrees with the Liberals, that decision should be investigated by the RCMP as well. That's the lowest close since March 2, 2016.

November 5 and 19 - SNC-Lavalin meets with Mathieu Bouchard, another senior adviser in the Prime Minister's Office, to discuss "justice and law enforcement". Scheer is demanding a criminal probe of Trudeau's actions by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and has urged the prime minister to resign. She previously served as minister of health and minister of indigenous services. You can't have an Indian doing that to the White Man. (David) Lametti can, you can't. And while I am disappointed, I understand her decision to step down.

Since the furor erupted a month ago, Trudeau has offered only general denials of any wrongdoing.

Trudeau said he "completely disagrees" with his former attorney general's characterization of events, insisting that he and his team were rightly looking to safeguard up to 9,000 Canadian jobs, including in his own Quebec electoral district.

Wilson-Raybould was convinced her refusal to help SNC-Lavalin was behind the demotion.

"Jane Philpott's resignation from cabinet does a tremendous amount to buttress the honesty and integrity of our former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould", said May.

Opposition Conservatives last week called on the Liberal PM to resign.

Teegee expressed his disappointment during a meeting with Trudeau in January, other First Nation leaders met with Trudeau in January, he said, "but perhaps now more than ever..."

"She produced some pretty remarkable progress, particularly on child welfare, where she took a unity-seeking approach", Turpel-Lafond told APTN.

"In a democracy such as ours, and in a place where we value our diversity so strongly, we are allowed to have disagreement and debate, we even encourage it", the prime minister said. Now two of his most high-profile female Cabinet ministers have resigned in solidarity.

"There are a number of people who are incredibly anxious we are going to lose the progress we have made; and we are going to see a government led by an individual who has coddled Yellow Vesters; and who has really cultivated support from groups and organizations that he should be shunning and pushing away", Erskine-Smith said.

Trudeau said that "enjoying our natural world is a huge part of the Canadian identity".

Calls for the prime minister to resign are not usually made lightly by any leader of the official opposition.

Canada's Ethics Commissioner launched a federal investigation into the alleged interference on February 11. The Privy Council clerk also challenges Wilson-Raybould's assertion that solicitor-client privilege prevents her from responding to allegations.

In a matter of weeks, the Liberal cabinet has lost two key ministers, and things don't seem to be getting any better for Justin Trudeau and the PMO as the SNC-Lavalin scandal deepens.

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